Comments on: J.D. Pruitt, strange outcome player

By: JG

JG — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 21:11:13 +0000

Speaking of strange outcomes, meet Jason Neighborgall: 5.2 IP, 3 K 30 BB. Not a typo, 30 walks in 5.2 IP.

By: scott19

scott19 — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 04:38:29 +0000

35: Just don’t ever go to Montreal and let Habs fans hear ya say that!

By: Notor

Notor — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 03:47:36 +0000

On another note, “Vancouver Canadians” is possibly the worst name for a baseball team ever, or any sports team for that matter. All of the Canadian teams are Canadians, don’t you want to at least try to sound unique?

By: Typical Idiot Fan

Typical Idiot Fan — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 03:43:11 +0000

I remember a set of baseball cards that was sort of in the “Garbage Pail Kids” vein and one of the characters wasa black knight in a full suit of armor.

He led the league in HBP because the opposing pitchers loved to hear the sound it made when a ball glanced off his dome.

By: Thom Jimsen

Thom Jimsen — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 02:06:58 +0000

This sort of freak performance reminds me of a spongeballer named Tom Drees who played for Triple-A Vancouver in 1989 (I think). He was old and no kind of prospect, plus couldn’t break 88 on the radar, but he threw three no-hitters that year, along with at least one one-hitter, and maybe a two-hitter.

So the big club (White Sox) had to at least give him a September look. He promptly got killed, and that was that.

By: scott19

scott19 — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 01:31:27 +0000

31: I’ll betcha David Eckstein feels like Eddie Gaedel at the plate whenever he has to face The Big Unit.

By: Celadus

Celadus — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 01:23:53 +0000

Interesting point with Gaedel–being extremely short is obviously a repeatable skill. Even in the major leagues, a person his size is going to walk almost all the time, at least at first. I’m surprised Oakland hasn’t signed a Gaedel-sized player and dh’d him until Seligula wrings his hands and bans the guy for making a travesty of the game.

That being said, certain players (e.g. Ron Hunt, Biggio) obviously have made HBP a repeatable skill, and Pruitt has given some indication (i.e, college & his line this year) that he is on the same track.

The problem is that whereas virtually nobody has pitched to a Gaedel sized player in professional baseball, just about every professional pitcher deals with guys who stand too close to the plate.

If Pruitt proves he can’t hit, as he moves up in the minors (if he does), he will be facing pitchers with better control, and they just aren’t going to hit him or walk him enough times to make up for his lack of ability to hit a baseball.

By: The Ancient Mariner

The Ancient Mariner — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 00:49:28 +0000

So the question is, does this guy have any actual future or is he merely an oddity? (A tall man’s Eddie Gaedel, maybe?)

By: Eric Purdy

Eric Purdy — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 23:11:34 +0000

Googled Pruitt and found his 2007 stats at the University of Montevallo. Shockingly he didn’t lead his team in HBP, falling three short of Eric Moore’s team leading 27. Pruitt accomplished his 24 HBP’s in 56 games. He walked 50 times and had a batting line of .365/.535/.557.

By: cpbuddha

cpbuddha — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 22:22:56 +0000

In all seriousness – is this tendency the result of something Pruitt does, or simply a statistical aberration? It could always be the latter, I would think; someone has to be the least/most lucky player of the year. If it’s something he does, what the hell is it – besides being pathologically unwilling to get out of the way?